THE OWNER of Solar Para Sa Bayan Corp., the company that is seeking a legislative franchise to put up minigrid systems nationwide, is willing to compromise and accept the amendments proposed by electric utilities including the regulation of its power rates and a limit to its scope of operation.
“Notwithstanding the fact that 82% of Filipinos according to Pulse Asia want new choices for electricity and many more have expressed support for this bill on social media and other fora, we actually manifested our openness to accept the majority of the amendments proposed by the electric utilities,” Leandro L. Leviste told reporters after a Senate meeting on his company’s franchise application on Monday.
Mr. Leviste said he was willing to compromise and agree to proposals to have the minigrids regulated.
“And whereas the original scope of the franchise allowed us to operate in all parts of the Philippines, we have actually also manifested our openness to decrease this to the parts of the country that are unserved and underserved, the definition of which is at the heart of the discussion,” he added.
The amendments on the proposed franchise comes after the House of Representatives first heard House Bill 8179, which seeks to grant a non-exclusive legislative franchise to Solar Para Sa Bayan. The measure is being opposed by solar energy developers, electric cooperatives, and even lawmakers. They called for further review and deliberation on the bill.
Mr. Leviste said his willingness to compromise signifies that the most viable markets were “being put off the table because these viable markets are largely already served by distribution utilities like Meralco (Manila Electric Co.).”
“We have no intention to enter areas where we are unwelcome and even at the expense of the viability of this undertaking, are willing to limit ourselves to these unserved and underserved areas which the committee deems appropriate,” he said.
Mr. Leviste said the proposed franchise does not grant his company any government subsidy, which is in contrast to the P20 billion yearly subsidy given to electricity utilities for missionary electrification and an estimated P50 billion a year in all kinds of subsidies.
“This is will really a debate between big businesses and the Filipino people. And we are optimistic that at the end of the day, the overwhelming clamor of the Filipino will prevail,” he added.
However, Mr. Leviste, whose mother is Sen. Loren B. Legarda, said he wanted protection for his investment on minigrids.
“Only through a franchise can we bring this to a meaningful scale by being able to efficiently serve larger numbers of households, sitios and barangays, and with the same protections under the law as the distribution utilities,” he said. — Victor V. Saulon
